Construction Project Manager James Wilson (right) makes a point during a tour of the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort (Photo: Torrell Glinton)

There was no way for Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort to remain open while the property undergoes $4 million in renovations, according to Construction Project Manager James Wilson.

"These are very major issues," Wilson said during an extensive tour of the resort on Thursday. Any single one of those issues could shut us down. If I'm jackhammering on the Windsor pool deck, everybody on this resort hears it.

"We're not that big of a resort, just about 13 acres. As a managing construction person, I couldn't possibly see us isolating one of those areas and still have an operating hotel. There is no way we expect our guests to put up with that."

On August 15, the jobs of more than 600 workers were made redundant at the resort.

A day later, the luxury all-inclusive resort began its renovations which included replacing pipes, tiles, repainting, carpeting and other "much needed upgrades". Wilson explained that the resort had no choice but to close down, as there were four major issues that needed to be fixed that could not take place in an occupied property. They are issues with the chilled water system, the boiler system, the Balmoral pool and the Windsor pool. These issues mainly revolve around leaks caused by old equipment.

Wilson showed The Nassau Guardian the chilled water system that is plagued with a combination of leaking pipes and deteriorating insulation. Water leaked from dozens of different areas and puddles covered the floor. But in order to fix the leaks, the entire system would have to be shut down and the ceilings would have to be ripped open to replace the insulation on the pipes.

"A lot of the chilled water pipe work is original equipment," Wilson explained. "Some if it may be 70 or 50 years old depending on where you are. Over the years, it has been growing almost like a cancer. So at some point, you have to address it.

"Some of what you see is mostly insulation work which breaks down over the years. Some of this is really old. You definitely can't do this in an operated building. Chilled water controls your air conditioning system. Without chilled water we don't have an air conditioning system and guests don't put up with that."

The Red Lane Spa was mainly affected by the leak in the chilled water system.

The spa reeked of mold and mildew.

Another issue was with the resort's boiler system, which controls all laundry services. The boiler and the steam pipes have leaks. Wilson said the manifold is being replaced and so are all the steam pipes. He explained that similar to the chilled water system, the only way to work on the steam system is to shut it down completely, which would mean the resort would not have access to laundry services.

The Windsor and Balmoral pools are being repaired for a myriad of reasons. But while the Windsor pool is undergoing simple upgrades and infrastructure service repairs, there was a bigger issue with the Balmoral pool. "The Balmoral pool has huge leaks, near to 5,000 gallons a day," he said. "We've detected where those leaks are and we're working on that right now. So that pool had to be completely drained to address the leaks.

"In addition to that, we've had two associated rather large hot tubs next to this pool with major leaks as well. We've extubated around those and we dug down. We found the leaks, so now we're addressing those as well. It's a combination of structural issues and pipework."

While many lost their jobs at the resort, hundreds of locals found employment through construction, said Wilson.

"We have at least a dozen contractors working on the site right now and they range in specialities," Wilson said. "We have carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tile layers and even concrete guys. In terms of numbers, we're probably in the hundreds in terms of construction workers. It varies day by day."

According to Wilson, the pool deck will be done by October 4th.

He said the resort will be opened in mid-October.

"It will be finished," he asserted. "No doubt. That is my job. We will be done."

Jayme C. Pinder, Guardian Staff Reporter

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